Tag Archives: June Saraceno

The Review Review, which is a hub for literary journals, dipped into the fiction, poetry and non-fiction stories of the Sierra Nevada Review and came out with a stellar examination of SNC’s literary journal.

The 2014 publication of the Sierra Nevada Review recently earned four out of five stars by reviewer Laura Jean Schneider. She said, “SNR is not afraid to try something new or step on toes. I got the feeling that seems to be its point, to provide a place where things can both happen on the page, in print, and simultaneously within the reader.”

After a careful analysis of each of the 33 pieces in the journal, Schneider offered an insightful, indepth and complimentary review of the Sierra Nevada Review. The review is published on The Review Review website, which reviews small literary journals from universities and independent presses. It was begun by Becky Tuch, who started it as a way to connect writers, editors and readers about what is happening in the world of literary journals.

“It’s a great to be a part of what they’re doing and have a such a thorough and long review of what we did last year,” said Laura Wetherington, an English professor and the adviser for the Sierra Nevada Review.

2014 Sierra Nevada Review

The Sierra Nevada Review was given kudos for including writings from the winners of SNC’s High School Writing Contest, as well as sharing experimental poems and unconventional topics. The title of the article was “A Lit Mag Unafraid to Try Something New (and a Writing Contest for Teens!)”

“If there’s a theme underlying the latest issue of the Sierra Nevada Review,” Schneider wrote, “it’s summed up well in a line from contributor Clayton Adam Clark’s poem, ‘Reverberations: … all things / have a pitch.’ The intensity of memory, the complexity of ethnicity, the sacrifices of democracy and the definitions of family­­ weave subtly through this hard copy journal produced by Sierra Nevada College’s English Department and Low-Residency MFA Program.”

The complimentary review puts the icing on the cake for the Sierra Nevada Review, which celebrated its 25th year of publication last year. It was begun by English Chair June Saraceno. Students are currently working on the 26th edition of the literary journal, with an expected publication in May. There is also a growing interest in the Sierra Nevada Review, which doubled the number of students who signed up to be on the staff this semester.

English Chair June Saraceno’s third book, “of Dirt & Tar,” arrives this week from the publisher and is already attracting attention. Local publications are choosing to feature the press release about the book, and Saraceno will be featured at several upcoming readings.

Congrats to June for her new book of poetry to be released next week. Here’s the press release we sent out about her achievement:

Readers will discover “deftly-crafted narrative moments that unreel like snippets of cinema” in the poems of June Sylvester Saraceno’s new book, entitled “Of Dirt and Tar.”

June Sylvester Saraceno at the Camac artists residency in Marnay-sur-Seine. Saraceno’s new book, “Of Dirt and Tar” is slated for release March 1 by Cherry Grove Collections. Photo by Carolina Cruz Guimarey

The second, full-length collection of poetry by Saraceno, the English department chair at Sierra Nevada College, will be released March 1 by Cherry Grove Collections, with accolades on its jacket by some of the nation’s top poets.

Patricia Smith, who won the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize for the most outstanding book of poetry in 2013, said, “There’s a rumor making the rounds that poetry, alas, is dead — I know of no better way to refute that idiocy than to immerse yourself in these lyric stanzas, these deftly-crafted narrative moments that unreel like snippets of cinema. June Saraceno has once again infused the literary landscape with a necessary breath; this long-awaited volume couldn’t come at a better time.”

While Iraqi war veteran and poet Brian Turner, author of the acclaimed “Here, Bullet,” invites readers, saying, “I promise you: this book is just as good at 30,000 feet over the Atlantic seaboard as it is in a rocking chair on the back porch of a moonlit home in the woods.”